


Boundaries

by Crispycheeto



Series: Smosh Age-regression [2]
Category: Smosh
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Boundaries, Caregivers, Happy Ending, Little Space, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play, Pacifier - Freeform, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Serious Talks, sippy cups
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:40:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28867920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crispycheeto/pseuds/Crispycheeto
Summary: The first day after Anthony finds out that Ian regresses, he’s kind of treating Ian differently and helping him with everything. Ian has to discuss with him when and when not to care for him. Then after Ian is able to have another nice little evening.
Relationships: Ian Hecox/Anthony Padilla
Series: Smosh Age-regression [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2111703
Comments: 3
Kudos: 11





	Boundaries

Knock, Knock; the sound of a firm fist against a wooden door sounded through the small house.

“Ian? Are you up?” Anthony called through Ian’s bedroom door.

The door opened and out came Ian already dressed. He wore a blue button-up shirt with yellow cartoon ducks on it. The short sleeves were cuffed, matching his cuffed blue jeans. On his feet were socks striped with several blues.

“Yea, I’m up” Ian said, stepping out into the hallway and heading for the kitchen. 

“Good morning, blue boy” Anthony chuckled, amused by his own joke and by Ian’s outfit. 

“Morning” Ian answered not energetically.

“You want me to make you breakfast?” Anthony asked, entering the kitchen behind Ian. 

“Nah, I can get my own breakfast” Ian said, his voice sounding slightly agitated.

“Oh. Just trying to be helpful” Anthony frowned, watching Ian peel a banana.

“I appreciate it, but I don't need help” Ian took a bite of his banana, letting the silence linger.

“How bout some juice?” Anthony asked, opening the fridge and peering inside.

“I’m fine” Ian said, rolling his eyes behind Anthony’s back.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me” Anthony said sternly, spinning to give Ian a firm look.

“What? How’d you even see me? You’re not the boss of me anyway” Ian pouted.

“Lucky guess” Anthony grinned, pulling out the jug of milk.

Ian watched Anthony make his breakfast, still eating his banana. Anthony grabbed a box of cereal, raisin bran, from the closet. He grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and poured his cereal into it, carefully closing up the box afterwards. 

“You sure you don’t want anything else?” Anthony asked, pouring his milk and making eye contact with Ian at the same time. 

“I’ll have some milk” Ian decided, pulling a cup out of the cabinet.

Anthony offered the milk to Ian after he was done with it. Ian took it with a small smile and poured about a fourth of a cup's worth of milk into the plastic cup. He sipped the milk and finished his banana. He stood awkwardly next to the counter while Anthony ate his cereal in a similar position.

“I'm gonna go brush my teeth” Ian informed, putting his cup in the dishwasher and his banana peel in the trash.

“Two minutes” Anthony said as Ian walked out of the kitchen.

“Shut up” Ian shouted from the hallway before shutting himself in the bathroom.

Ian began brushing his teeth, perhaps a bit aggressively. He was annoyed. He didn’t want Anthony on his ass now that he knew his secret. He spit out the toothpaste and groaned frustratedly. He decided he needed to have a serious conversation with Anthony about boundaries and the appropriate times to take care of his needs. They didn’t have the time for that now though, and Ian wasn’t even sure what to say.

Ian sighed, relaxing himself and left the bathroom. Anthony was waiting outside the bathroom, probably needing to brush his teeth as well. They passed silently, switching places. Ian went into the livingroom and sat on the couch, waiting. He got up, remembering he needed to grab his things for work. He went to his room and grab the things he needed, his laptop, chargers, and his phone. He gave his stuffed panda a long look, before deciding to shove it into his bag as well.

“Ian? Are you ready to head to work?” Anthony asked, suddenly appearing at Ian’s door, and leaning against the doorframe. 

“Uh, yea” Ian quickly zipped up his bag and offered a small smile.

“You want me to drive today?” Anthony offered.

“Uh, yea. That sounds good” Ian said softly, feeling just a little bit awkward. 

“Let’s go then. You still need to get your shoes on” Anthony said, noticing Ian’s still shoeless feet.

“I’ll put em on and meet you in the car” Ian said, following Anthony to the main area.

Anthony nodded and walked out the front door, calling, “don’t forget to lock the door when you come out”.

“I won’t” Ian said, sitting down and pulling his shoes on.

Ian tied a quick bow in his shoelaces, making sure his sneakers were secure. He stood up, grabbing the house keys off the hook as he did so. He stepped outside and closed the door behind him, locking it. He made the short walk to Anthony’s car and got in.

“Did you lock the door?” Anthony asked, watching Ian buckle his seatbelt.

“Yes, mother” Ian rolled his eyes.

Anthony decided to ignore the small act, focusing on backing out of the driveway. They allowed the short ride to be quiet. Only the radio playing at a soft volume filled the car. Ian tried to relax. The morning had already stressed him out. He couldn’t risk slipping now. He knew they had a full day of filming. He was dreading the work day. He felt it could only get worse from here. He’d have to hold on and force himself to stay in his big headspace. He knew that wasn’t very healthy for him, but he felt he didn’t really have a choice. His work always came first for him.

At least they were filming videos for smosh games that day. He tried to comfort himself with the thought. Their gaming videos were usually a lot less stressful than the videos they filmed for the main channel. He didn’t have to act as a different person when they filmed for the smosh games channel. He felt himself calm down just a bit at that thought. He thought it might even be a fairly chill day, aside from the fact they were filming at least 3 videos. But if that was the worst, he’d be alright. 

“We’re here” Anthony said, killing the engine and getting out of the car.

Ian nodded and got out of the car. He grabbed his backpack from the floor without saying a word.

“Are you alright, Ian” Anthony asked, concerned.

“Yea. I’m just feeling a little off” Ian tried to brush it off.

“Are you sure? Is there anything I can do?” Anthony asked, as they still stood, a car between them.

“I’m fine. Just please stop mothering me. It’s starting to get annoying” Ian snapped before he headed to the office building.

“I’m sorry” Anthony said but it was more to himself, Ian already far ahead of him.

Anthony sighed, rubbing his hand over his face. He just wanted to be helpful. He wasn’t really sure how he was supposed to act with this new dynamic. Maybe he just needed to let Ian ask for his help, but he worried that the smaller boy would need him and be too afraid to ask for help. He refused to let Ian be alone in this. He just wanted to be there for his best friend. He just wasn’t exactly sure how to do that now that things had changed. It was like there were two people in Ian, and he wasn’t sure which to cater to.

He decided they’d need to talk about all of that later. He needed to know how to best take care of his friend. He felt lost. He didn’t know what Ian needed. He knew he needed to take that step and try. All it took was a conversation, and he regretted not thinking about that first. He worried that he’d already screwed up and pushed Ian away as a result. He worried that Ian wouldn’t want to come to him, even if he really needed him. Anthony couldn’t let that happen. He needed to fix what he’s broken.

Anthony took one last deep breath before he headed into the building. He decided to let it be for now. He would treat Ian as he normally did. That’s probably what he should have done to start with. He couldn’t let himself worry about it too much though. They had a day of filming ahead of them, and he refused to let his worries and concerns get in the way of a successful work day. 

*~*~*  
“Alright! If you liked this video, leave a like, subscribe and comment. There's our last video over here, and a video chosen by youtube right here!” Mari said enthusiastically, motioning left and right to their other videos.

They had just filmed a karaoke video. The boys were being weird and silly in the background, dancing around, while Mari did the outro. 

“Aaaaand, cut!” The director shouted when they stopped the cameras.

“Good job guys. It’s lunch time. We’ll meet back here to film our last video of the day at two pm. See ya in two hours” Matt said, heading out the door to have his own lunch.

The rest of the filming crew filed out after turning off the filming lights and putting their equipment up. All of the smosh games crew headed back to the office where they planned videos, and filmed the maricraft videos. Anthony and Ian headed to their shared office down the hall.

“What do you wanna do for lunch today, Ant?” Ian asked, slouching in his chair.

“I don’t know. What are you in the mood for?” Anthony asked.

Ian paused to think before answering, “Tacos I guess?”

“I’m cool with tacos. You wanna go to Jimboy’s?” Anthony suggests.

“Yea, that sounds fine” Ian nodded, getting up from his desk chair.

Ian and Anthony walked out to Anthony’s car and headed to the mexican fast food place which was close enough to the office. 

“So what are you gonna get?” Ian asked as they were pulling into the parking lot.

“Your mom” Anthony said jokingly.

“I don’t think she’s here” Ian laughed.

“But for real ima get some tacos” Anthony parked the car and got out, waiting for Ian on the sidewalk. 

“So we just want tacos?” Ian asked, shutting the car door. 

“If that’s what you want, yea” Anthony agreed. 

They walked into the restaurant, getting in line behind just a couple of people. Just a few minutes had passed before it was their turn to order.

“Hi, can we get eight of your beef tacos?” Anthony asked politely.

“Sure. Do you want everything on them?” The employee asked, her voice was bubbly and kind.

“Yep” Anthony answered, pulling out his wallet.

“Hey, it’s my turn to pay for lunch. You paid yesterday” Ian said as he pulled out his own wallet. 

“Okay it's going to be nineteen dollars and twelve cents” The employee said, putting their order in.

“Okay” Ian handed her a twenty dollar bill.

The employee, Ian saw her nametag said Vicky, took the bill and got the change.

“Here you go, your change is eighty-eight cents” Vicky handed the change to Ian who shoved the loose change into his pocket.

“Thank you, about how long?” Anthony asked.

“It’ll be just a few minutes” She answered.

Anthony nodded and Ian followed him over to the side of the restaurant so that they would be out of the way of other customers. They waited patiently and it wasn’t long till their food was ready.

“Order of eight tacos” A different employee, a man, called.

“That’s us” Anthony said, walking up to the counter and retrieving their bag of tacos.

“Thanks dude” Ian said, smiling behind Anthony.

Ian and Anthony walked out of the restaurant, heading back to Anthony’s car.

“Back to the office” Anthony said, buckling his seatbelt and starting up his car.

Ian got buckled up as well, resting the bag of tacos on his lap. They drove back to the office with the radio playing songs they didn’t know. When Anthony parked the car he didn’t get out. 

“Hey Ian, I just want to warn you that I think We need to have a serious talk later” Anthony said, not yet unbuckling his seatbelt.

Ian froze up a bit. He’d just been getting comfortable. He was nervous about what Anthony wanted to talk about. He worried that Anthony had changed his mind, that he was no longer okay with Ian regressing. It’d be one thing if he just no longer wanted to take part in it or help him. He worried that Anthony would out him. He wasn’t ready for anyone else to know about it. Sure he trusted his coworkers but he just had no clue how they would react. He couldn’t risk his career with it. 

“Hey man it’s not a big deal. I’m not upset with you. I just wanna give you a heads up, give you a chance to think” Anthony tried to explain.

“Think about what?” Ian asked, tilting his head down, feeling smaller with his anxiety taking over. 

“I just want you to think about what you need from me. I think we need to talk about what’s going on with us because it’s just been kind of awkward. I don’t know how to act” Anthony confessed.

“Yea. I agree. We need to talk about boundaries. That’s important” Ian agreed, feeling better.

“Good. Ready to go inside and have some tacos?” Anthony asked, changing the topic.

“Yea, let’s go” Ian smiled and unbuckled his seatbelt.

*~*~*

Ian was sitting in his room after the long work day they’d had. He was in his big headspace for the time being, but he was planning to allow himself to regress later in the evening. He knew Anthony still wanted to talk to him and he felt that he needed to be his adult self for that conversation. Ian was just laying in bed on top of his comforter. He wasn’t really doing anything. He was just waiting anxiously, thinking about what he needed to say. He was startled by a knock on the door.

“Hey Ian? Are you ready to talk?” Anthony called through the door, his tone calm.

“Yea. You can come in” Ian sat up, making space for Anthony to sit next to him on his bed.

Anthony opened the door and walked into the room, sitting down on the bed next to Ian. He took a deep breath, clearing his mind before he began to speak.

“So I need you to tell me what you need” Anthony spoke slowly.

“Honestly I don’t really know. It’s nice when you try to care for me but it’s just...you can’t do that when I don’t ask for it” Ian tried to explain.

“Okay” Anthony said, thinking about what to say next.

“So like I just need to say that when you treat me that way when I don’t ask for it, it makes me feel...small...I can’t do that in public or at work. We have work to do and I can’t be distracted ya know” Ian continued.

“Yea I get that it makes sense. I just wasn’t sure how I was supposed to treat me with this new development” Anthony said.

“Just treat me like your best friend like you always would. Treat me like your friend unless I ask for you to do otherwise. Or I guess if I’m very obviously little and I need help to either take care of myself or not making a scene in front of other people” Ian shrugged.

“Yea. I can do that” Anthony smiled.

“But I do really appreciate you taking care of me” Ian said shyly. 

“And I really don’t mind helping out. I was actually thinking about something” Anthony trailed off.

“And what would that be?” Ian asked, tilting his head with interest.

“Okay so I dont know how you’d feel about this idea” Anthony said nervously.

“Just say it” Ian laughed.

“Well I just thought maybe it’d be good for you if I was like officially your caregiver. I’m not sure how much of a difference that would make or if the title even matters. I just wanna make a promise to be here for you as long as I possibly can be” Anthony rambled.

“I think that’d be very nice” Ian grinned.

“Really?” Anthony asked hopefully.

“Yes. I’d really like that actually. It’d be nice to have someone to depend on when I’m kind of not really myself” Ian assured.

They sat quiet on Ian’s bed for a moment. It was quiet, but not a bad kind of quiet. It was nice. Ian was comfortable and he had the urge to slip. He’d been planning to sometime after their conversation. 

“So uh, would it be okay if I was little now?” Ian asked quietly, tilting his head down shyly.

“I’d be perfectly okay with that. You can do whatever you need to and I’ll go start dinner. Just come out whenever you’re ready” Anthony said, getting up to head to the kitchen.

Ian nodded, watching the slightly older boy leave. He smiled happily. He felt free. He was eager to have a carefree little night. Ian remembered that he was in his uncomfy adult clothes and was quick to pull off his stiff jeans and unbutton his shirt. He pulled a soft yellow T-shirt out of his drawer, pulling it over his head. After kicking his jeans off, he went for a pair of grey sweatpants. Feeling deeper in his headspace he found his pacifier, putting it in his mouth. Finally he grabbed his blanket and his panda, Dumplin, and walked out to the living room.

Ian wrapped himself in his blanket and dropped onto the couch. He took his pacifier out so he could speak.

“Ima burrito” He giggled to himself, quickly replacing his pacifier.

Anthony, hearing Ian’s arrival, peaked out of the kitchen.

“I'm making macaroni and chicken nuggets” Anthony informed the small boy.

Ian made a happy little noise of approval to which Anthony smiled fondly at.

“Do you want juice?” Anthony asked, fully embracing the carer inside of him.

“Pease” Ian said cutely around his pacifier.

Anthony grabbed Ian’s sippy cup, which was still sitting on the counter from when he’d washed it the night before. He pulled the apple juice from the fridge. He figured that was the preferred juice as Ian had been drinking it the previous night. He carefully filled the sippy cup with the juice before returning it to the fridge. He screwed the lid back onto the sippy cup and walked out to give it to Ian.

“Here ya go, buddy” Anthony handed it to Ian, making sure he had a good hold on it.

“Thank you” Ian said, pulling his pacifier out in favor of sipping from his sippy cup.

Anthony watched Ian happily sip from the sippy cup before returning to the kitchen to watch the macaroni cook. He was glad Ian couldn’t drink the juice too fast due to the rubber spout. Knowing Ian, he’d probably drink it all at once and make himself sick. Suddenly he worried that Ian may be bored.

“Hey Ian, you wanna watch some cartoons?” Anthony asked, coming into the livingroom and turning on the tv.

Ian hummed in agreeance and nodded. Anthony pulled up Netflix and began scrolling through cartoons aimed at children. He scrolled until Ian told him what he wanted to watch.

“Venture Time!” Ian shouted excitedly, pointing at the picture as it came onto the stream. 

“Adventure Time it is” Anthony said, clicking the icon and pressing play.

Ian watched the tv, absorbed in what was happening on the screen. Anthony returned to the kitchen to finish making dinner. It was almost done. He just needed to strain the pasta and mix in the other ingredients, as well as pull the chicken nuggets out of the oven. After he’d finished doing that, he got out two plastic plates and two forks from the silverware drawer. He put an appropriate amount of food on the plates for both of them and brought them out to the living room. He sat them down on the coffee table and sat down. He watched Ian set his sippy cup down and immediately reach for the plate of food. Anthony reached out to stop Ian and gently press him back against the couch.

“You gotta wait for it to cool off a bit. We wouldn’t want you to burn your mouth again, cause then we’d have a whiny baby on our hands” Anthony said teasingly, causing Ian to pout. 

“Not a baby” Ian said, still pouting.

“Oh yeah? How old are you then?” Anthony asked, genuinely curious.

Ian responded by holding up two fingers on his hand. 

“Oh wow, you must be a big boy then” Anthony said lovingly.

Ian nodded enthusiastically, putting his hand down. He reached for his food again slowly, as if waiting for Anthony to stop him again.

“Yes, you can have your food now. I’m sure it’s cooled down enough now” Anthony said, noticing Ian’s hesitant look. 

Ian smiled and took the plate in his hands, happily eating the macaroni on his fork. Ian smiled. He felt very happy at that moment. He made a thinking face. He wondered what would happen if they did tell people at smosh about him. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to, but he was interested in having more people to love him, and maybe even some little playmates. He started thinking about the qualities of his friends and coworkers, wondering if they could possibly fall under the caregiver or regressor umbrellas.

“Whatcha thinkin about, kiddo?” Anthony asked, seeing how deeply in thought Ian was.

“Thinkin bout the rest of the smosh people” Ian said simply.

“What about them? You don’t need to worry about them right now. We can leave that for work tomorrow?” Anthony said, thinking he was maybe stressing about work when he was supposed to be able to be carefree. 

“Wonderin if anyone else is like me” Ian admitted.

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask to know I think” Anthony said thoughtfully.

Ian frowned, the thought of sharing his secret scaring him.

“We don’t have to tell anyone about you. Not unless you want to, and not until you’re ready if you do decide you want to do that” Anthony comforted Ian.

Ian nodded, quietly returning to eating his food. He went back to watching the tv, quickly forgetting about his worries. He settled into the couch, eating his last bite of chicken nugget. Anthony finished his own food, getting up and taking Ian’s plate as well.

“Did you eat enough?” Anthony asked, wondering if he’d need to put away the rest of the macaroni or if Ian would wanna eat it.

“Am full” Ian responded, snuggling against the side of the couch.

“Okay. I’m gonna put away the leftovers. Don’t go anywhere” Anthony jokes, knowing Ian probably wouldn’t even move an inch from his comfy spot on the couch.

Anthony made quick work of putting the leftover macaroni in a container and placing it in the fridge. He even washed the pot he’d made the pasta in. After he’d finished that he returned to the living room, seeing that Ian was still curled up on the couch.

“Do you want some more juice, Ian?” Anthony asked, picking Ian’s empty sippy cup up off the coffee table.

Ian thought for a moment, scrunching up his face before answering, “Yes please”.

Anthony was quick to fill the cup with juice and return it to its owner. Anthony turned the light off before settling back down onto the couch next to Ian. His heart melted just a little bit when Ian laid across his lap. He sipped his juice and watched the tv with droopy eyes, his head resting comfortably on Anthony’s lap.

Anthony thought this was nice. He was happy like this. He loved feeling needed and important. He loved seeing his best friend so happy and content even more. He felt that this was working out. He also wondered if there were any fellow littles or caregivers in their company. That was certainly a thought for another day though.

As Ian was drifting off, draped over the couch and Anthony’s lap, he thought about how good he felt. He couldn’t ask for more. He didn’t think it could get better than this. He had all he needed right there. 

“Hey, Ant?” Ian whispered, his voice soft and sleepy.

“Yea?” Anthony asked.

“Happy” Ian said, returning to his relaxed almost asleep state soon after.

“I’m glad you’re happy” Anthony smiled, catching the half filled sippy cup and it slipped from Ian’s loose grip.

“I think it’s time to get you to bed” Anthony said, chuckling at Ian’s cuteness.

“No” Ian said.

“No isn’t an acceptable answer” Anthony sighed, before he braced himself and stood with Ian in his arms.

Ian wasn’t as heavy as he expected, but not in a bad way. Ian was fairly small compared to the average adult male. For some reason Anthony had always thought he’d weigh more. 

Anthony brought Ian to his room as quick as he could, laying him in his bed when they got to it. Anthony was glad no one had shut Ian’s bedroom door. 

“Night, Ian” Anthony said, not expecting a response and closing the door.

Anthony returned to the living room, shutting everything off. He himself was ready to go to bed. It wasn’t that late but he felt as if he’d had a long day. He was ready to call it a day, get a good night’s sleep and start the next one.


End file.
